Along with a string of other small and mid-size airlines, Nigeria’s Air Peace has had a tough 2025.

In November 2025, the Lagos-based carrier had to temporarily stop running flights after four of its Airbus A320 planes were seized by wet-lease lessor SmartLynx. Both sides accused the other of unpaid debts and failing to provide the subsequent service as the future of the airline that flies both domestically in Nigeria and to international destinations like London, Johannesburg and Mumbai appeared increasingly uncertain.

While Air Peace eventually resumed many of its routes by December, the airline is now announcing that it will cut all its regional flights departing at night in exchange for daytime departures in what representatives claimed is a way to “enhance passenger comfort and travel experience [and] improve schedule reliability and on-time performance.”

Air Peace announces “transition to daytime regional operations”

“The transition to daytime regional operations will enhance passenger comfort and travel experience, improve schedule reliability and on-time performance, provide stronger connectivity to night-time long-haul departures, support business, government, and leisure travel across West and Central Africa,” Air Peace spokesperson Efe Osifo-Whiskey said in a statement to local press. “This optimized schedule gives Air Peace a strong competitive advantage over both regional and international carriers operating from Lagos, reinforcing its role as a key enabler of intra-African trade, tourism, and mobility.”

Related: Airline cancels flights after planes seized, passengers left stranded

The decision affects above all the Air Peace route going from the capital of Lagos to Dakar in Senegal with fifth-freedom stops in Abidjan in Ivory Coast and Banjul in Gambia. This flight will leave at 7:00 a.m. to return to Lagos at 9:40 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, while the flight from Lagos to Accra in Ghana and Monrovia in Liberia will leave Murtala Muhammed International Airport (LLA) in Lagos at 8 a.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

A daily flight between Lagos and Accra will also be shifted from evening to morning with a 7 a.m. departure four times a week. Flights from Lagos to London Gatwick will continue to depart at 12:15 a.m. Flights the airline runs from the capital of Abuja and to the London Heathrow Airport will also continue to depart in the evening and early morning hours.

After the shutdown of Nigeria Air, Air Peace became the country’s flagship airline.

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A short history of Air Peace: An unofficial national airline

Air Peace has unofficially become the national airline for Africa’s most populous country after the federal government abandoned the plan to revive Nigeria Air from a 2023 shutdown and bankruptcy.

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Despite its own financial challenges, Air Peace got out of the shutdown after the fallout with SmartLynx when Irish lessor AerCap offered it a dry lease for a Boeing 737-700 plane. In November, at least a dozen of both domestic and international flights were canceled as Air Peace told stranded travelers not to seek refunds but wait until the affected flights were resumed.

“The disruptions were caused by the abrupt and unjustified withdrawal of four aircraft we wet-leased from SmartLynx Airlines,” Air Peace Chief Commercial Officer Nowel Ngala said in November. “This withdrawal was made without prior notice, a clear violation of industry standards and the agreement between the parties.”

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